La Pared is spanish for “the wall“. This name alludes to the mesmerizing reef wall that you will explore throughout the dive.

After a 20m open water descent you arrive directly at the reef wall and can choose which way to go. Ideally you’ll simply follow the fish, that you will find in dozens. Either way, you will get the feeling the dive is just too short: yellow encrusted anemones, yellow sea fan, orange corals and loads of sponges and marine life in every nook and cranny.

There are 20m of water above you and 15-20m underneath you and gliding along the reef wall you get the feeling that you are truly flying underwater. A great sensation that only a reefwall can offer. A few embayments and overhangs offer the diver loads of objects for great and impressive pictures.
There is also a good chance to spot some big sting rays or angelsharks.

Once you leave the depth to avoid running into deco, you will find a little reef at about 12 metres deep which gives you time to take some pictures of crabs, nudibranchs etc and enjoy the rest of the time until you ascend to do your safety stop.

The guide always shoots the buoy to make sure you are seen by the boats. While doing the safety stop in midwater, just look down. At this spot you usually can see the shoals of fish at the edge of the reef, or a ray on the sand area.

This dive begins at the line of buoys that mark the beach swimming area. Once descended to the sand at about 20m, you will see the edge of the reef and follow it till you reach about 25m of depth.

Watch your no decompression time carefully– as these divesites make it easy to go down to 30 or 35m, but as we want to spend more time diving, we try to stay at the 25 m mark for the majority of the dive.

You will find a canyon-esque rock formation, which is home to many different fishes like groupers, trumpet fish and of course all the colourful fish of the Atlantic Ocean like damsels, wrasses, breams etc.
Keep your eyes on the reef wall to find sponges, nudibranchs, crabs etc. but never forget to check the waters above you for big shoals of sardines, as well as the sand areas in the deeper bits for rays and angelsharks.
If the conditions are right this dive is easily combined with the likes of Waikiki and La Pared since you´ll just drift along the whole of Playa Grande waiting for the boat captain to pick you up 😊.

As for all the divesites in front of the Playa Grande in Puerto del Carmen, all divers are supposed to have a buoy with them. The guide uses his to have a guideline for the safety stop which is usually done in midwater. And of course, it is important that the boat can easily spot the divers after their safe return to the surface.

Waikiki is one of our boat dives in front of the Playa Grande in Puerto del Carmen. It´s just next to Richies Place. The boat drops you off at the shot line and the dive begins with a descent down to 15 – 20 m.

While descending you will already see the lava tongues emerging from the sand. They will guide you down to the edge of the reef, which is at about 20m. Dive along the reef and find massive groupers, big shoals of sardines hanging out just above the reef who are usually accompanied by barracudas or even amberjacks. Flounders and trumpet fish are common fish at Waikiki.

There are also large caverns to explore. They are home to orange corals and sea fans. Of course, there are loads of sponges, crabs, and other marine life to find at the reef wall. It is a great spot for photographers as well, as you can do stunning photos of divers gliding along the reef.

As the current can be strong in this area, every diver should have a buoy with him. In case there is a bit of a drift, we simply use the current and glide along the reef. The boat will pick us up wherever we ascent.
We need to watch our no deco limit at this reef, as we usually run out of that earlier than of air. Therefore, we need to ascent early enough to have time left for a safety stop and to shoot the buoy, which the guide will always do as the boat is somewhere above us.